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Forums - Discs & Movies - HD-DVD and Blu Ray DOA

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As I understand it, in order to playback either blu-ray or HD-DVD you will need the following -

Set Top Player (PS3) -

1. An HDTV capable of 720p, 1080i or p

2. An HDMI Connection to that TV in order to get the Hi-Def resolution. Any other connection made from the players will downgrade the signal to standard 480p, otherwise known as DVD resolution aka what we're all getting now already.

3. An internet connection so that the movie disc can determine whether or not you are licenced to play the disc. Presumably it will also track WHAT you are watching for agressive marketing tactics later. Also, the player WILL discontinue working if it has been modified in any way. Region 0 hacks, modified firmware, etc.. This leaves the horrible prospect of being left with a big expensive paperweight if anyone steals your players ID code. Remember, this is AFTER you buy it and the movie and they become YOUR property.

4. Maybe new audio equipment to read the enhanced sound schemes.

To playback on a PC, you will need -

1. A PC with high end specs that can handle full on 1080P playback. I suspect not a lot of these monsters are available yet.

2. A free slot for a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD ROM drive.

3. AN HDMI CAPABLE PC MONITOR!!!! As I said above, I don't even think they've been invented yet. Who is gonna throw away their $400 DVI lcd monitor for that?

4. AN HDMI CAPABLE GRAPHICS CARD!!!

5. An internet connection for the same spying reasons as with the set-top players.

Put all those factor's together and it looks like a still-born death to me. The reason everyone is doing it? Greed first and foremost. The second? Piracy! Ask Hollywood any negative question and it's always about piracy! Idiots!

It'll probably STILL have to be connected through HDMI and then jacked-into the internet. Two very big killing points.

Also think of this, if 90% of the HDTV's out there don't have HDMI inputs, what about computer monitors? When blu-ray and HD-DVD drives hit the PC, they are required to be connected through HDMI monitor's too. To my knowledge, that hasn't even been invented yet. Kiss your $400 19 inch DVI monitor goodbye.

Quote: Originally posted by Gabriel Powers Fucking Elves stole my job!! I say back to the North Pole with all those short, pointy eared, bottom feeders. We need to increase our border potrol on the north side, maybe even hire a few crazy Canadian vigilanties to do that for us. The only good elf, is a dead elf. Elves, a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes!

Fucking Elves stole my job!! I say back to the North Pole with all those short, pointy eared, bottom feeders. We need to increase our border potrol on the north side, maybe even hire a few crazy Canadian vigilanties to do that for us. The only good elf, is a dead elf.

Quote: Originally posted by Chris Gould the convenience of being able to chapter skip and change languages on the fly (at least before they started putting use prohibited operations on everything).

Ugh...I hate that! Not being able to switch from one audio track to another or not being able to turn subtitles on and off without heading back to an options menu is #2 on my list of DVD pet peeves.

And while I'm at it, I'd like to know what complete idiot at Fox decided it would be a good idea to quit including subtitles on The Simpsons season sets...it has made watching the episodes with the audio commentary on far less enjoyable.

Is it really a surprise that the loonatics running Hollywood don't "get it?"

I had a mild enthousiasm for the next-gen players despite not even having an HDTV. I've just about lost all of it now. Monitoring what I watch tore it for me, beyond anything else. It isn't enough you pay the manufacturers and studios $1500 for a player and probably another $65 for each movie title. They have to know what you're watching and when. Fuck that!

At least that clarifies my DVD movie purchasing for the future. I'll save a lot of money over the long run too, what with not having to get a new player and software and all

BTW, great post Chris! I half expect one day Hollywood just to come right out and say it - "you people aren't paying us enough profit!"..

I forked out £700 for a new widescreen set with progressive NTSC capability just over a year ago, and it's already obsolete (I recently saw the next model up, which also does PAL prog for less than I paid). There's no way I'll be buying another expensive piece of hardware for at least another four years (maybe longer).

Sure these new formats will offer increased resolution, but for the majority of people that just won't be enough. It won't even be enough for me. The difference between VHS and DVD is massive. It's not just a case of having more than double the resolution, you also have multi-channel discrete digital sound, bonus material, the convenience of being able to chapter skip and change languages on the fly (at least before they started putting use prohibited operations on everything).

The leap from DVD to the next gen formats just isn't as big. Not only that, but the marketing tactics of studios don't exactly help matters. Back when DVD first started to get slightly mainstream (around '99 over here) I was the first person I knew with a player - by some way. Back then DVDs had more features, new releases were often in two for £30 deals, and we only got one version of a film. Since they became a phenomenon the studios have tried to fuck the public over with all these multiple releases and artificially high RRPs for 'big' titles - how can they justify charging £25 for two shiny discs?

I'm really sick of the state of the market at the moment. They are just going to bleed it for all they can until the bubble bursts and people move on to something else, at which time they'll try to exploit that as well. Whatever happened to quality over quantity? Why release three average versions of a film when you could release one great one? Simple - money. Fuck the greedy bastards. They'll try it with the new formats as well, but with the increased storage they just won't have any excuse for not getting things right first time. Of course they'll try their hardest to fleece us again, but I'm wondering what they'll blame 'poor' sales on when the time comes? Terrorism? Piracy? Elves?

What is the point of upgrading your DVD player when you won't get any advantage from it at all?

You’re not going to see anything different when you're watching a movie, it's still the same, and the majority of the films won't get the digitally remastered because a lot of the smaller companies can't afford to.

And a lot of the big companies such as Sony will con you by releasing another DVD saying this Blu Ray disc is even more super than your previous Blu Ray DVD that you bought a month ago.

The only reason people upgrade games consoles is because people can tell that the graphics and the hardware are even better and more sophisticated than the old system.

Film will always be the same, there would be no change, and they'll be a film out there in some other country that will have a better picture or sound or have extra footage that the R1 or R2 edition doesn't have.

And instead of DVD comparisons will have Blu Ray comparisons, because companies around the world can't decide what the contrast on the movie should be, or they'll have the wrong colour grass.

Remember the picture quality controversy over Halloween? It will happen again but on Blu Ray!!!

The only time I'll upgrade is when they're on file format, like MP3 only a 100 times better, and they'll be a device to play it on that you can either watch at the palm of your hands or hook up to the TV or monitor.

All these problems have prompted me into spending my money building a new Windows Media PC for my entertainment center late next winter or early spring instead of forking over cash for one of these tabletop players. HD-DVD and/or BluRay drives for a PC will be cheaper than a tabletop player to boot when I decide to purchase one to upgrade the media PC with one, and there are always ways around software and hardware on a PC.

What a joke. If you want either format you need an HDTV with BOTH a)an HDMI connection and b) A phone jack or broadband internet connection SO THEY CAN MONITOR WHAT YOU WATCH AND HOW! on equipment you've already paid for.